KARTIK at 11:23, 2 February 2026

2026-02-02T11:23:37Z

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{{Short description|Indian communist politician, theorist and writer}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{more footnotes|date=September 2022}}
{{family name hatnote|Keezhedathu|Damodaran|Indian name|lang=Toponymic}}{{Infobox officeholder
| name = K Damodaran
| image = Kdamodaran.jpg
| caption =
| office = [[Member of Parliament]] of [[Rajya Sabha]]
| constituency = [[Kerala]]
| term_start = 1964
| term_end= 1970
| predecessor =
| successor =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y |1912|2|05}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y |1976|7|3|1912|2|05}}
| occupation = Communist ideologue, Writer & Politician
| party = [[Communist Party of India]]
| nationality = Indian
}}
'''Keezhedathu Damodaran'''<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff writer |date=20 July 2012 |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/k-damodaran-remembered/article3660497.ece |title=K. Damodaran remembered |newspaper=[[The Hindu]]}} </ref> (25 February 1912 – 3 July 1976) was an Indian [[Marxist]] theoretician, writer and one of the leaders of the [[Communist Party of India]] in [[Kerala]], [[India]].

==Early life and education==
Damodaran was born to Kizhakkiniyakath Thuppan Nampoothiri and Keezhedathu Narayani Amma in [[Ponnani]] in [[Malappuram]] district. He had his schooling in Government School, Tirur, and college education in [[Zamorin's Guruvayurappan College|Samoothiri College, Calicut]]. His first socialist activities were associated with being secretary of the student movement 'Kerala Students Movement' and he joined the freedom struggle. He was arrested in 1931 for participating in the [[civil disobedience movement]] and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 23 months. While in [[Coimbatore]] jail, he learned [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Hindi]]. He went to [[Varanasi|Kasi]] (UP) in 1935 to study [[Sanskrit]] from the ''Viswa Vidyalaya'' there and passed the Shastri examination. While at Kasi he learned [[Urdu]] and [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and was attracted to Communist ideology.

==Political career==
{{further|Communist Party of India delegation to Vietnam, 1960}}
[[Lal Bahadur Shastri]] was his classmate. He was attracted to Communist ideology through his senior Onkar Nadashasthri. Thus he became a Communist – the first 'Malayalee Communist'. He returned to Kerala in 1937 and joined the [[Kerala Socialist Party]] and in May the same year formed the Kerala unit of the [[Communist Party of India]]. He organized [[Coir]] and [[Beedi]] workers. He was imprisoned twice and released in 1945. In 1951, he was elected as the [[Taluk]] secretary of the [[Malabar (Northern Kerala)|Malabar]] unit committee of the Communist Party. He contested the assembly election in 1951 and the [[Loksabha]] election in 1957. Damodaran was elected to the central executive committee of the party in 1960. He took charge of editing the [[Navayugom|Navayugam weekly]]. All through these years he was intellectually active by way of writing articles and books, learning new languages and debating on various forums.

He became a [[Rajya sabha]] member (MP) in 1964. He visited many Asian and European countries including almost all of the communist nations. After the tenure, he devoted his time to a comprehensive research on the history of the Party at [[Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi|(JNU)]] under an [[Indian Council of Historical Research|ICHR]] fellowship.
He was the first progressive writer in Malayalam. 'pattabakki' was the first political drama to be staged in kerala which, in a way, paved the way for the advancement of communist ideology among the common people. He dwelled deep into Indian Philosophy which was considered solely spiritual until then and discovered new streams of material thoughts in it. His celebrated works 'Bharatheeya Chintha' and 'Indiayude athmavu' speaks volumes of the metamorphosis. He was a multilinguist and could speak for hours on thought provoking subjects.

He died on July 3, 1976, in [[Delhi]] at the [[Safdarjung Hospital]] while he was still conducting this research. Damodaran was a multilingual scholar and translated many books from [[Russian language|Russian]] to [[Malayalam]]. Apart from ''Pattabaakki'', he wrote another play named ''Rakthapanam''. The stories written between 1934 and 1935 are now a collection known as ''Kannuneer''. In all his works, party popularization was seen. The best known of his works is ''Indiyude Atmavu'' and in English, an excellent exposition of 'Indian Culture' and 'Philosophy from the ancient times'. He completed only first part of ''Kerala History'' based on archeology, anthropology and coin sciences.

His critical insights on the global Communist movement, and particularly the Indian Communist movement, were thoroughly discussed in an interview conducted by [[Tariq Ali]] in 1975, which was published in [https://newleftreview.org/issues/i93/articles/tariq-ali-introduction-to-damodaran New Left Review, Sept.-Oct. 1975]).

Political activist and documentary director [[K. P. Sasi]] is the son of Damodaran.

==Works==
===In Malayalam===
*Jawaharlal Nehru
*Eka Vazhi
*Kannuneer (short stories)
*Karl Marx
*Samashtivada Vijnapanam (translation of the ''[[Communist Manifesto]]'')
*Paattabaakki (play)
*Rakthapaanam (play)
*Russian viplavam (co-authored with [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]])
*Manushyan
*Dhanasasthrapravesika
*Uruppika
*Nanayaprasnam
*Communism Enthu Enthinu ?
*Purogamana sahithyam Enthinu?
*Communisavum Christhumathavum
*Marxism (in 10 parts)
*Indiayude Aathmavu
*Keralathile Swathanthryasamaram (co-authored with C Narayana pillai)
*Dhanasasthra thathwangal
*Dharmikamoolyangal
*Enthanu saahithyam
*Chinayile Viplavam
*Keralacharithram
*Sahithya niroopanam
*Indiayum Socialisavum
*Indiayude Sampathikabhivrudhi
*Innathe Indiayude Sampathikasthithi
*Yesuchristhu Moscowil
*SamoohyaParivarthanangal
*Socialisavum Communisavum
*Panam Muthal Nayapaisa Vare
*Indiayile Deseeyaprasthanam(Translated directly from Russian)
*Marxisathinte Adisthanathathwangal
*Bharatheeyachintha
*Sreesankaran Hegel Marx
*Oru Indian Communistinte Ormakkurippukal

===In English===
*Indian Thought
*Man and Society in Indian Philosophy
*Marx Hegel and Sreesankara
*Marx Comes to India (co-authored with [[P.C.Joshi]])

===In Hindi===
*Bharatheeya chinthaa parampara

==References==
===Notes===
<references/>

===Other sources===
{{incomplete citations|date=September 2022}}
*{{cite news |newspaper=Grandhalokam Monthly |date=November 2004 |publisher=Kerala State Library Council |place=Trivandrum}}
*{{cite news |newspaper=Janayugom Weekly |date=15 July 1990 |author=Quilon?}}
*{{cite book |title=K. Damodaran |first=M. |last=Rasheed |publisher=D.C. Books |place=Kottayam |year=1982}}
*{{cite web |title=K Damodaran: An Unfinished Chapter |first=K. P. |last=Sasi |date=17 March 2012
|website=Countercurrents.org |url=https://www.countercurrents.org/sasi170312.htm}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |title=K. Damodaran (marxist) Profile |url=https://www.veethi.com/india-people/k._damodaran_(marxist)-profile-3075-19.htm |date=29 January 2014 |website=Veethi.com}}

{{Malayalam Literature |state=collapsed}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damodaran, K}}
[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India politicians from Kerala]]
[[Category:Hindi-language Indian writers]]
[[Category:Indian communist writers]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Indian Marxist historians]]
[[Category:Indian Marxist writers]]
[[Category:Indian Sanskrit scholars]]
[[Category:Journalists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Malayalam-language writers]]
[[Category:Malayali politicians]]
[[Category:Marxist theorists]]
[[Category:Scholars from Kerala]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in other fields]]

K. Damodaran - Revision history

KARTIK at 11:23, 2 February 2026